Thursday, 15 December 2011

The last 3 weeks we have been working hard on producing some sample footage for our video, we currently have 45 seconds of footage that was shot over 4 shooting sessions, two were at school, one by the railway bridge and one down at the industrial estate location.

The sample footage helped us get a better understanding of what our end product can/will look like and what effects looked good, what locations and camera angles were right, and even what wasn't so great.

The first time we showed our work to others was at the schools creative art's evening, this was an evening put on by school showcasing work from the media, drama and music department and was full of creative minds who could offer helpful feedback about our product, we were even lucky enough to have the headteacher view our work which was a great honour.

The feedback we got from creative arts evening:

People didn't really know what was going on, there wasnt any anchorage that gave the audience an idea of what was happening in the video and why and what our character was trying to escape from and what relevance did all the shots of Mac's and other miscellaneous objects have to do with this.

How we will change our product after the feedback:

We think the main reason people didn't know what was going on was because the footage we showed them was only 45 seconds long which really isn't that long to provide any real anchorage especially with our idea that 'Technology is Bad' it is hard to portray that in such a short clip so we think that we will just have to work on getting more footage and then getting more feedback to see whether with more time the audience got a better understanding of what was going on.

We also showed our work in our Media lesson which is full of young talented minds ready to make their break in the music video world, so is good to get other media students to give their creative opinions on our work.

Feedback we got:

Include more subliminal messages

Perhaps get the character to get on the train, this would give us scope to go to new locations

The fast pace editing was good gave an intense feel to the video

Good use of effects, thought that the Black and White effect worked well.

Expand locations to more urban areas such as Leeds and mainly Bradford.

How we plan to adapt to feedback:

Start location scouting around Leeds and Bradford, we already have one location in mind in Leeds and two of us being born and bred in Bradford have good local knowledge and and a few locations in mind for places in Bradford.

We need to think about good ways to include our illuminati symbolism

Feedback from our media teacher:

The scene when Ben walks backwards should be changed because it gave a comedy feel, which wasn't all what we were wanting.

Didn't think that Ben was right for the role.

How we are going to change:

We are going to edit out the backwards walking scene to make sure we have the correct intentions for our video.

We have started looking for different people to cast for our role instead of Ben.

Thursday, 8 December 2011

So far so good we have approx. 40 seconds of sample footage ready to be screened (almost) and so far we're just adding the finishing touches to the footage, making sure that what's on-screen is everything we want onscreen- that there isn't anything that we think would ruin the atmosphere of the video or that would damage it and break verisimilitude. Where we plan to go next is basically to screen it at the creative arts evening and see what feedback we can gain from that, which at this stage would be incredibly useful.
[DFT]

Monday, 5 December 2011

...have conducted an interview with Mr. Reznor today (5/12/11) with the chit-chat mainly focusing on his upcoming The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo film score although there where other small bits of information released, he is releasing a full length How To Destroy Angels album early next year (hopefully) and he let slip that he's been offered some live show's although he didn't go into much detail on the matter he did indicate he was still working it out.
But the real killer here is the news that in 2012 he'll be writing with a much more NiN orientated stuff...

Sunday, 4 December 2011

Artist: How to Destroy AngelsDirector: Rupert Sanders (Snow white & the huntsman)Year:2010Genre: POST- IndustrialAudience: 24-35 (15-24)(The video was only ever released online as such only those with a prior knowledge of Reznors work would have heard of the band)How to Destroy Angles (HTDA) is a group with Reznor, his wife Mariqueen Maandig & Atticus Ross, with a very electronic sound, one that differs from nine inch nails significantly and yet is another outpost for Reznor & Ross' dark electronic sounds.

Judging from the style of the video I'd say a HD camera was used, the clarity and camera work would seem to indicate this.It's a very narrative video, well not that much happens, the scene is one of a hotel murder, of a bride and groom I assume who've been killed on their wedding night, played by Mariqueen and Trent respectivly, whilst being watched by Atticus Ross and a blonde woman as a fire starts and engulfs the scene as Atticus and the woman watch on calmly.

appearing at 0:36-38, a reveal of what's in the
hotel room.

The first 7 seconds of the video feature a hallway shot, the number of doors and the tacky carpet signify a cheap american style motel, as does the window at the end of the hall, a small and cheap one with the curtains blowing. The camera work here is a slow zoom- tightly frames so that the walls just are in view.We then jump forwards with a swift cut to the window and a door slightly open at the side of the frame, indicating danger.A performance aspect is introduced through the corpse of the bride singing, something that becomes quite macabre as she begins to set alight and burn slowly. They've said the way that they've done this was to have her singing them impose her face onto a mannequin- although the effect isn't all that well done it certainly adds to the video and takes nothing away.What's interesting to note is the messing around of focus on the camera with the 'depths' changing so what was blurred becomes clear.The blood effect is used brilliantly in this video with the blood looking realistically dark and maybe ever so slightly desaturated.One example of a really well framed shot would be the one you see to your right. The lighting in the window is done so that it glows in ever so slightly, the curtains seem dirty, not overly so but enough to fit with the 'vibe' of the video. The bride laying against the bed, with the bed ever so slightly jutting in the right of the shot and behind her, the corpse of the groom, their attire a white, frilly dress and the grey well fitted suit would indicate a wedding. The lighting here is typical of the genre, dark and moody with heavy use of shadow.

Shot of a candle appearing at 0:48

The candle seems to be a common aspect, appearing at 0:48 seconds and staying onscreen for a good 2 seconds before vanishing, the candle blowing gently in the wind, the idea that something somewhere is causing a breeze which then lends itself to the aspect of intrusion, someone having come in and killed the occupants of the hotel room. It could also indicate a sense of fragility, the wax gently protecting the flame. It also shows that some amount of time has passed in the room seeing as though the wax has clearly been worn down, adding to the theme of decay that features in the video.

The sense of mystery continues in the video, with several shots focusing on the fingers, or the hands or someone smoking. Sometimes not even body parts but instead objects, gently spattered with blood to indicate that something violent has happened, such as at 0:53, we have a womans hand (painted black finger nails) with what looks to be a broken glass just out of reach and covered in blood- indicating a struggle and the closeness of the object showing that it was maybe a self defence wound, either way the violence of the video is pretty heavy and it becomes much worse when the bodies and the room begin to burn, with heavy use of special effects to show the lip syncing even as the body is burning, they used a mannequin to burn with a wig then superimposed Mariqueens face onto it to get the desired effect, i.e one to shock and disturb the viewer.Overall the video is one that seems to be much more modern that prior industrial videos and is clearly following a narrative and the editing clearly draws the viewer into the scene that's unfolding on screen.